Former professional football player Freddie L. Mitchell II is asking a judge to let him accept a plea deal on federal tax fraud charges.

By JASON GEARYTHE LEDGER

ORLANDO | Former professional football player Freddie L. Mitchell II is asking a judge to let him accept a plea deal on federal tax fraud charges.The Lakeland native who played for the Philadelphia Eagles is scheduled to go on trial next week.However, Mitchell's lawyer, H. Kyle Fletcher of Oviedo, filed documents Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Orlando asking a federal judge's permission for Mitchell to enter into a plea agreement with prosecutors.A copy of a plea agreement states Mitchell would plead guilty to conspiracy to file a false claim with the government, which carries a maximum punishment of up to 10 years in prison.The ultimate decision of what an appropriate sentence should be then would rest in the hands of U.S. District Judge John Antoon II.The judge must first consider whether to allow Mitchell to enter into a plea deal so close to his scheduled trial date.Mitchell played in the NFL for four seasons from 2001 to 2004. The Kathleen High School graduate played for UCLA before joining the NFL. He was a wide receiver for the Eagles and played in a Super Bowl.Mitchell and a couple, Jamie Russ-Walls and Richard Walls, were indicted in April 2011 by a grand jury on charges of submitting fraudulent tax returns to obtain refunds. Those refunds ranged from $170,000 to nearly $2 million.Walls and Russ-Walls accepted plea deals in November. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to file a false claim with the government.Walls was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.Russ-Walls received five years of probation and a year of home detention.

[ Jason Geary can be reached at jason.geary@theledger.com or 863-802-7536. ]